Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1887-07-21
THE TIMES.
Children's Food.

This is subject vi lteraiiy Vltai in-
terest to every family in the land;
more especially in large towns and cit
les. where the want of facilities and IN
ducements to outdoor activity makes
it absolutely indispensable to adopt
some system in reference to the times
quantities and qualities of the food to
be taken by children; for the want OF
attention to which things multitudes
die early, while other multitudes, not
as large, however-for half OF all that
are born die before the age OF eigh-
teen years, in consequence mainly OF
inattention to habits and health-be-
come dyspeptics, scrofulous, or con-
sumptivee before the age of twenty-five,
many of whom are destined to life OF
WEAKNESS, of painful toll, and OF vast
ing efforts for a living through sick.
ness, and disease and cronic sutferings.
On entering the fifth year, or sixth at
fartherest, child can be very easily
habituated to eat at three regular
times day, at intervals Of five or six
hours, with nothing whatever between
except, at a little past midway, SIN
gle good ripe apple, or piece of cold,
dry, coarse bread may be allowed to
the less vigorous.
A second consideration is quantity.
IF children are taught to eat slowly,
in loving good-nature-as will be the
case if they are let alone by their par
ents, and not put in an ill-humor by
incessant reprimands and innumerable
rules and regulations about hundred
contemplate triAes-they may gen.
orally be allowed, for breakfast and
dinner, to eat as long and as much as
they want, only if all the hard food is
cut up carefully with sharp knife
into pieces not larger than pea. This
should be conscientiously and always
attended to by one of the parents, for
it cannot be safely intrusted to one
hireling out of a million; parental affec-
ton only will do it as it ought to be
done.
At supper, children should always be
controlled; let observation determine
how much child Will eat and leave
something over, and then allow there
after certainly not over two-thirds of
that amount.
And now as to that most important
of all items-quality of food for grow
ing children. The instinct for sweet
ness is inappeasable: without it, any
child, however healthy, will soon die,
and, fortunately the two things which
children most love everywhere, and of
which they never could get tired, and
will always relish when hungry, are
milk and bread and these furnish as
much sugar as any child needs. But
no child can ever grow up healthy and
handsome without good teeth, and as
the permanent ones begin to be made
from the fourth year, their food should
contain in great abundance those ell
ements which are needed for sound,
durable teeth. The bony part of the
tooth contains seventy-one per cent of
lime, the enamel ninety-four per cent.
Out of one hundred parts of the finest,
whitest -four, only six per cent is lime;
of one hundred parts of -four made of
the whole grain, there is twenty-five
per cent of lime, or four times as much; ;
and no other article of general food
contains anything like as much lime as
common brown bread Therefore, it is
a reasonable conclusion that if chill
dren were to live largely on -four made
of the whole product of the grain, in
the shape of well-made and well baked
brown bread, very much would be done
towards securing them durable and
beautiful teeth.
When children are from home, let
them live as others; when at home
their bread should be informally made
of the whole product of the grain
ground, from their third to their ff-
teenth year, to be eaten with half a
pint of milk for breakfast and supper,
adding some berries firm June until
September, and one or two baked ap-
pies the remainder of the year, adding
teaspoon or two of sugar. Such a
bill of fare with two or three variations
week, and allowing them to eat what
they want for dinner, will pretty sure
ly, other things being equal, give good
health, good teeth, good constitution,
and good old age.